Canned Cherries
by Hannahmypet
Summary: A happier end, because they deserve it. [One-shot Gameverse Stella/Rothcall]


**((Quick AN: Spoiler alert! This story happens during mission 3-4, starting up right in the middle of Rothcall's speech about how humanity was made to overcome obstacles, so use that as your reference to establish the story. I couldn't bear such a downer ending, so I decided to write this alternate path in which Rothcall doesn't die. It probably isn't exactly my best work, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless. Enjoy!))**

* * *

"Huh?" Suddenly, out of nowhere came a Mini Rabbit, the same kind that had jammed their communication earlier. And it was warming up its laser, pointing right at Rothcall.

"Look out!" BRS leapt between him and the alien, blocking with her cannon. The laser bounced off, though a bit of it still hit her, burning her wherever it touched. Surely if it had hit straight on, it would've instantly killed the victim.

"Ojou-san! Are you alright?!"

She shook it off as best as she could. "Fine," she stated. "You should get out of here." She pointed her cannon at the Mini Rabbit, firing off rapid shots. It flew out of range, but luckily, decided to retreat for the time being.

The two yellow aliens, SZZU and CKRY, jumped over them and turned around to face them. "Listen to me!" SZZU yelled. BRS turned to her slowly, pointing her canon at her.

"You killed my friends," she hissed.

"It wasn't us!" the alien defended.

"The enemy of my friend is my enemy," BRS said, eyes narrowing.

"I'm telling you, it wasn't us!" the alien repeated.

"Look out! Those two are A-class aliens!" Rothcall said.

"I can handle them," she said confidently, before launching herself at them into battle.

* * *

The aliens collapsed on top of each other, and BRS brushed herself off, going back over to Rothcall. "Let's get out of here," he suggested, and she nodded, turning her back on the alien that was crying out to be saved.

They made it back to the cabin, and BRS showed him the radio set-up that had been sending out the distress signal. "So it was just a trick all along..." he muttered, collapsing into the chair at the small table. He shook his head and pressed his forehead into his palm. "All my friends are dead, and for what? There wasn't even an actual woman to save. It was all for nothing..." BRS stepped forward, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Rothcall... I'm sorry." He looked up at her and tried looking reassuring, though it more came out as pained.

"It wasn't your fault. It was those damn aliens, tricking us like that."

"Even so..." He shrugged and looked away, a dark look in his eyes.

"What will become of humanity now? We need a man and a woman to continue humanity..." BRS frowned. Again, he was missing what was right in front of him.

"Rothcall..." She tapped his shoulder, and he looked up. "Would I work as humanity's last woman?"

"A-ah?!" He froze up, his face going red. She tilted her head at him. "W-well, I don't know, I don't see any issues, but..." He couldn't meet her eyes, mumbling something unintelligible.

BRS's eyes narrowed. "But you don't want me to be."

"Of course not!" he quickly said. "I hope that there are others out there, of course! It'd be terrible if we were the last humans on Earth, simply because that means everyone else is dead! Of course I don't want you to be the last one!"

She looked away. "But you'd rather some other girl survived to be the last woman."

"That's not it..." He looked kind of uncomfortable. "It's complicated."

She frowned. To change the subject, he held up the can of cherries. "Well, since it's relatively calm right now, how about we eat? Then maybe it'll help me think." She nodded and sat down at the seat across the table.

He opened the can and held it out to her. "Here. Try one." She reached into the can and pulled out a single cherry, chewing it curiously. A sweet, juicy flavor filled her mouth- strange, but not bad.

"It tastes good," she said with a nod, rolling her tongue around in her mouth to really get the flavor of it.

Rothcall grinned triumphantly. "See? I told you!" She nodded.

"Yes, you were right. Thank you, Rothcall," she said, giving him a small smile. He grinned even wider at that.

"There's that smile again!" The smile instantly dropped off her face, but he continued grinning, obviously satisfied with having seen that short smile while it happened.

He ate one himself, and BRS reached over the table to take another cherry. He playfully pulled the can out of reach of her for a second, causing her to make a rather cute noise, then held it back out. She took a couple of them and sat back in her seat, eating slowly so she could savor it- not just the cherries, but being there, the rare calm moment, with Rothcall, the warm emotions overpowering the chilly weather outside.

He had been right, she decided- she was glad she was human.

* * *

**((AN: I will never be over this pairing, which I have dubbed Tally Ho for obvious reasons. I kind of want to continue this story, but IDK, I tend to not finish things. Also, I only referred to Stella as BRS in this because she didn't remember her name was Stella in-game until about mission 3-5, which this story obviously takes place before. Hope you all enjoyed it. If you did, reviews would be nice. Until next time, tally ho!**

**Image from pixiv: illust_id=25686627))**


End file.
